After walking out of Jinyu Pavilion, Liu Dong did not go back to his rented community, but rode his Jinlu bicycle and continued to ride towards the center of the antique city.
Fortunately, it's still early, there aren't too many people on the street, and the people setting up stalls nearby haven't left their homes yet. Otherwise, riding a bicycle on the streets of the Antique City would be a luxury.
Although Quancheng Antique City is called a "city", its area is not large. With two main streets, several lanes, and thousands of shops operating here, the entire antique city only covers an area of a hundred acres.
In the past, this place was originally the residence of Zheng Shusheng, a big capitalist in Quancheng City during the Republic of China. However, the Zhang family, which was once known as the largest family in Dongshan Province, was like most of the national capitalists in the country at that time. During the frequent civil wars,
and political turmoil, fell down.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this place once became the government residence of Quancheng City. Later, it was too dilapidated and during that special decade, it was one of the Four Olds and did not fit the image of the city government. Therefore, it was renovated in the 1970s.
In the mid-term, it moved to Yuhan Road, where the city government is now located, and the place fell into decline for a time.
After the reform and opening up, the east wind of economic development began to blow, and the antique trade that had once fallen into a trough began to flourish again. Only then did the Quancheng City government further renovate and expand the already almost abandoned Zhang House, and gradually formed it.
The entire city of Quancheng is really the most prosperous trading market for antiques, cultural relics and art in the entire Dongshan Province.
Liu Dong's destination at the moment is in the center of the antique market.
————————
Liu Dong stopped the car when he looked at the majestic attic in front of him, which was about ten meters high and divided into three floors. Its shape was also a traditional Chinese mortise and tenon structure. The plaque at the door read "Taiyi Pavilion" in three gilt characters.
When he got here, Liu Dong's face completely lost the restraint he had in Jinyu Pavilion just now. He walked into the first floor filled with wood carvings of various shapes. After Liu Dong looked around, he shouted: "Uncle Long,
Uncle Long!"
"Stop shouting, brat! I'm not deaf!" The old man said with a hint of joy, and along with the footsteps coming down from the second floor, a man wearing a gray short coat held a hand commonly used by ordinary people.
A hale and hearty old man wearing a banana leaf fan, white beard and hair, appeared in front of Liu Dong.
Seeing the old man coming down, Liu Dong quickly put down the wooden box in his hand, took two steps forward, stretched out his hands to hold the old man's arms. If he and Wang Kun were just talking about business, then for the old man in front of him, Liu Dong
Dong means respect.
Without the guidance and help of this old man, Liu Dong's carving skills would not have improved so quickly, and his level of jade carving would not have reached the current level of a third-level carver.
However, for some reason, the old man with extraordinary carving skills refused to accept him as his apprentice. Maybe it was because the old man was good at wood carving instead of jade carving, Liu Dong always guessed this.
"Okay, kid! I'm not too old to walk yet!" Although he said this, the old man looked at Liu Dong with the kind of care he would have for his descendants.
After pushing Liu Dong's hand away, the old man sat down on a mahogany armchair behind the counter. After taking a look at him, he asked: "Are you going to give jade to Mr. Wang in Jinyu Pavilion again?"
"Well, yes, Uncle Long!" The old man had known about this for a long time, so he had no intention of hiding it. After finishing speaking, Liu Dong moved a round stool from the side and sat down next to the old man.
After he sat down, the old man nodded and said with a somewhat serious expression: "Wang Kun, that kid, has been hanging around in this antique city for more than ten years. His reputation has never been very good, so you must be sure when you come into contact with him.
Do you know how many eyes you need to grow?"
"I remember, Uncle Long! Don't worry!" What the old man told himself was often based on his own experience gained over the years, so there was no look of impatience on Liu Dong's face except for being serious.
.
Looking at the young man in front of him, the old man did not hide the admiration on his face. Liu Dong's stability and diligence are rare in this era, especially among young people of his age. This is also why he
The reason why he taught Liu Dong his carving skills in the first place. However, the old man knew that his own strength was limited, so in order not to disappoint his disciples, although he admired him, he never agreed to accept Liu Dong as his apprentice.
"Come on, let me see if your skills have improved this month!"
After listening to the old man's words, Liu Dong quickly took out a white rice grain from his coat pocket and put it into the old man's hand.
Yes, it is just a grain of rice, but Liu Dong's grain of rice is not ordinary. It is the material he uses to practice his micro-carving. It is also a unique skill he inherited from Uncle Long.
After receiving the white rice grains, the old man was not in a hurry to check. Instead, he took it in his hand and touched it carefully with his fingers. Then he nodded, turned around and took out a magnifying glass with a copper handle from the counter next to him.
Put the rice grains under the mirror and examine them carefully.
Seeing the old man's movements, Liu Dong, who was sitting on the side, became a little nervous, and his back unconsciously straightened up a bit. He looked as serious as a primary school student who was checking his homework with the teacher.
"Not bad. After practicing for more than two years, it is considered rare to be able to carve thirty characters on this!" The old man put down the magnifying glass, looked at Liu Dong and said with a smile.
"Compared to Uncle Long, I'm far behind!" Liu Dong said modestly after heaving a sigh of relief.
After listening to what he said, the old man waved his hands with a proud look on his face and said with a smile: "No need to belittle yourself, when I was your age, I was not at your current level!" After a pause, "Okay, I'm going to come to you this time.
What ingredients are you getting here?”
"Uncle Long, maybe there will be a little more this time!" As he said this, Liu Dong took out a piece of paper filled with various specifications and types of wood from the pocket of his coat and handed it into the old man's hands.
"Oh, I asked for a lot this time! What's the matter? Is the business good?" The old man couldn't help but ask with a smile after reading the list in his hand.
"Thanks to you, my wood carving skills have improved rapidly, so I have made a lot of money recently!"
Seeing the playful look on Liu Dong's face, the old man couldn't help laughing and scolding: "You kid, you are a monkey spirit. You picked up all the nice things to tell me. The old man is not that superficial." He paused and said, "Tell the truth.
, if you hadn’t worked hard on your own, it would have been useless no matter how much I helped you! But it’s a pity that your boy likes too many things, and he especially likes jade carving. If you can take your heart back and focus on wood carving, what will you do?
With his talent and hard work, I am afraid that the level of wood carving is no longer what it is now. Even if you are a provincial wood carving master, you can take the exam!"
After listening to the old man's words, Liu Dong smiled on his face. Although he knew that the old man was right and it was also for his own good, he preferred jade carving to wood carving, and he is now practicing miniature carving with the old man.
If he puts too much energy, he will naturally be dispersed. Although it is far less than the achievements achieved by specialization, this is his own preference and Liu Dong does not want to change.
Seeing his appearance, the old man shook his head somewhat helplessly, "Forget it, if I don't talk about you, it's all in vain. But although your kid has a big appetite, he's also improving very quickly in his work.
Maybe you will actually learn it in the end."
"Don't worry, Uncle Long! With you always watching me from behind, whether it's wood carving or jade carving, I can succeed in the end!" Liu Dong quickly promised.
After listening to what he said, the old man smiled and nodded. After taking a look at the list Liu Dong handed him, his face showed a look of thinking, but soon his eyes fixed and he already had an idea in his mind, "Xiaodong,
Now your wood carving skills can be considered as a success! So don’t carve those little things from the streets for now! I’ll give you a piece of material later, and when you get back, carve them out and put them in my place to sell!”